QGPP – The Guild of Photographers Qualified Status.

31st July 2018

I’m absolutely thrilled to have received the email this morning to tell me that I have achieved my “Qualified” status with The Guild of Photographers.

Regular followers of my Facebook page and Instagram will know that I have been entering their Image of the Month (IOM) competition each month and have been achieving good results. I’ve achieved Bronzes a Silver and even my first Gold last month so, with the encouragement of my photographer friends I decided to push out of my comfort zone and submit 21 images for review by a panel of senior photographers. Nerve wracking to say the least, but I am so so happy that I passed!

In addition to the submission of images, I also needed to provide a written brief on each image to explain the set-up, lighting and poses for each image. As it was pets I chose to submit I also explained the nuances their different coats can cause for different lighting. For example, the ‘fringe’ on a Shih Tzu will shadow their eyes, so I needed to adjust the height of the dog and also my lighting. Also the fine coat of a Weimaraner can cause lots of reflection so this needed to be taken into account. For cats, I chose to focus on their eyes and the symmetry of their whiskers so needed to get them to sit very still so I could get in close.

I love every second of photographing animals. And I love providing images of adored pets to their owners so they can take pride of place on the wall.

The next step on the ladder is Craftsman and things get VERY serious and technical. But for 2018 I’m delighted to be a QGPP and let’s see that 2019/2020 brings.

I have included the images from my panel below. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed photographing them.

Thank you to all my wonderful furry models xx

From The Guild’s Website:

Our ‘Qualified’ status is aligned to standards of competence that reflect a level where the customer should be ‘pleased with the results’, when employing the services of a skilled tradesman (the photographer). In other words ‘Qualified’ indicates professional ‘competence’ to a level where the Guild is willing to recognise the photographer as an ambassador of the association.